The present invention relates to barcoding systems and more particularly to a self-checking system for computer generated barcodes.
The U.P.C. or Universal Product Code is very widely used in the retail and wholesale trades, usually being applied to packages or labels in the form of a printed barcode which is machine readable by suitable scanners. The barcode also incorporates the U.P.C. in human readable form along a lower margin so as to permit manual entry of the code in the event of a scanning failure. The U.P.C. in barcode form is used extensively in inventory management, and point-of-sales (POS) systems. Further details of the U.P.C. specification are found in the xe2x80x9cU.P.C. Symbol Specification Manualxe2x80x9d published by Uniform Code Council, Inc. (1986).
Many retailers now penalize suppliers heavily if a barcode does not scan properly. In some cases, retailers refuse to order stock from a supplier when barcode errors have occurred too many times, resulting in significant losses for the supplier. The supplier in turn may penalize a designer, film-house, plate maker, or printer for defectively printed barcodes. The extent of the problem is discussed in articles by the inventor published in the trade journal xe2x80x9cCanadian Packagingxe2x80x9d, namely xe2x80x9cThe Get-Tough Approachxe2x80x9d (May, 1992); xe2x80x9cUPC Barcodes and the Desktop Revolutionxe2x80x9d (February, 1993); and xe2x80x9cDesk-top Barcodes Revisitedxe2x80x9d (May, 1994). The generally similar EAN coding system is widely used in Europe.
Barcodes are also used to encode many other types of data where machine readability of such data from printed material is required, and accurate printing of such data is essential to readability. There are many factors that can compromise the readability of barcodes during scanning. Most involve distortions introduced during press and pre-press operations used to apply the barcode to a substrate, and substrate based problems. Additionally, the master from which the barcode is reproduced may be incorrectly used or specified, e.g. it may have been prepared for a different printing process from that actually used.
In the art, there are commercially available desktop design computer software programs, for example Adobe Illustrator(trademark), Adobe PageMaker(trademark), and Quark XPress(trademark), for designing consumer packaging. Such programs are run on a computer system commonly referred to as a packaging design system. The packaging design system typically comprises a personal computer, such as a PC or Macintosh, and a PostScript(trademark) imaging device. The packaging design system allows a designer to create a design for a consumer package and also place barcode markings on the consumer package. The elements of the barcode are defined in terms of PostScript(trademark) commands which are contained in an Encapsulated PostScript(trademark) (EPS) file, which is part of a document file generated by the desktop design computer software program. The PostScript(trademark) language is an industry standard page description language which was developed by Adobe. The EPS file is outputted to a Raster Image Processor (RIP) in the PostScript(trademark) imaging device. The RIP interprets the commands and directs the imaging device to generate the barcode defined by the designer through the commands. The imaging device produces the film separations which are used to make printing plates. In known manner, the printing plates are used to print the packages with the integrated barcode markings on the packaging.
The present invention provides a mechanism for testing barcodes generated by packaging design systems. The mechanism according to the invention permits a PostScript(trademark) imaging device or PostScript(trademark) RIP software package (e.g. Adobe Distiller(trademark)) to check compliance of the defined barcode with predetermined specifications and to indicate problems with the barcode which would result in a failed Certificate of Conformity and/or attendant non-compliance penalties.
The present invention provides a system for self-checking the electronic file from which a barcode is generated for possible modifications to the configuration of the barcode.
In one aspect, the present invention comprises an Encapsulated PostScript(trademark) barcode file which includes an executable self-checking module which tests the barcode file for specification violations to the UPC barcode definition. The results of the self-checking operation are communicated to a checklist module. The checklist module is an executable module which generates a checklist that displays the test results. The checklist may be placed at any location, scaled, mirrored or rotated within the design document but in most cases adjacent to or outside the boundaries of the consumer packaging being designed.
In another aspect, the checklist may include additional information related to the barcode which is stored in the EPS file when it is created. The additional information includes Manufacturer, Date/Time created, Intended Printing Process, Product Description, Bar Color when created, Barcode Symbology, Size as Created, and Line Width Reduction specified or used. This information is also communicated to the checklist module and displayed by the checklist.
It is a feature of the present invention that the method of communicating and displaying the self-check test results is independent of the relative order of xe2x80x9cplacementxe2x80x9d of the xe2x80x9cchecklistxe2x80x9d and the EPS barcode file. Advantageously, this allows the desktop designer to create a packaging design and insert/delete checklists or barcodes at will.
In a first aspect, the present invention provides in a package design system having interactive input means and processing means for creating a package design bearing a barcode and an imaging output device for generating the barcode, wherein the barcode comprises a definition stored in an electronic file, a mechanism for determining compliance of the barcode definition in the electronic file, comprising: (a) means for accessing definition data in the electronic file for the barcode; (b) means for testing the definition data and producing test results; (c) means for storing the test results; and (d) means for outputting the test results.
In another aspect, the present invention provides in a package design system having interactive input means and processing means for creating a package bearing a barcode and an imaging output device for generating the barcode, wherein the barcode comprises a definition stored in an electronic file, a method for determining compliance of the barcode definition in the electronic file, the method comprising the steps of: (a) generating a definition for the barcode and storing the barcode definition in an electronic file; (b) running a check of selected parameters in the barcode definition and generating test results for checking the barcode definition before generating the barcode on the imaging output device; (c) outputting the test results to the imaging output device.